Why Sanjay Gandhi forced SBI chairman to quit in 1976

Why Sanjay Gandhi forced SBI chairman to quit in 1976

This Monday marks the 37th anniversary of the imposition of "internal" Emergency, on June 25, 1975, with President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed signing the proclamation late at night, even before it had Cabinet approval.

An important vignette about those days has come out, in a booklet written by N Vaghul to honour the memory of R K Talwar, the trail-blazing chairman of State Bank of India (SBI) from 1969 until his abrupt departure in 1976, at the height of the Emergency.

The vignette that deserves a wider audience relates to Talwar's ouster.

Why Sanjay Gandhi forced SBI chairman to quit in 1976

The promoter happened to be a friend of Sanjay Gandhi. Sanjay called the finance minister (who, though unnamed, was C Subramaniam; Pranab Mukherjee was nominally under him as minister for revenue and banking), and asked him to direct the bank to waive the condition on change of management.

The minister phoned Talwar, who called for the details of the case, satisfied himself, and informed the minister that the condition could not be waived.

The minister summoned Talwar to Delhi and told him that he had instructions from "the highest authority" in the country.

Why Sanjay Gandhi forced SBI chairman to quit in 1976

Talwar said he would accept and could do that in addition to being the SBI chairman. The minister looked unhappy, so Talwar observed that the minister seemed to be "very particular" that Talwar not continue as the bank chairman.

The minister admitted that the problem was Talwar's lack of flexibility on the cement company issue, and said that if he did not resign, he would have to be dismissed.

Talwar said he had no intention of resigning, and the minister could decide on dismissal.

Why Sanjay Gandhi forced SBI chairman to quit in 1976

As Mr Vaghul tells it, Sanjay next asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to look for grounds on which Talwar could be dismissed. It turned out that Talwar had sent appeals to many businessmen, seeking donations for the Auroville project to which he was devoted.

But no businessman was willing to testify that Talwar had spoken to him or tried to persuade him to make a donation.

All that he had done was to forward an appeal signed by the prime minister and the secretary-general of the United Nations (U Thant), recommending the Auroville project for support.